Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM - FAN | |||||
| TSB-09-15-3 | 12/01/2009 | 10033035 | Ford/mercury: some vehicles may set diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) p0a81 (battery pack cooling fan 1 control circuit) and/or p0a96 (battery pack cooling fan 2 control circuit) in the traction battery control module (tbcm). these codes by | 06/25/2010 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||||
| AS-21769 | 03/01/2011 | 10039053 | Ready | 07/06/2011 | |
| AS-21769 | 03/01/2011 | 10039053 | Ford: if there is an intermittent lack of power, surge, or hesitation while driving the brakes will override acceleration. *rm | 07/06/2011 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 09/07/2012 | 56000 | 3 | |
| Driving at 55 mph, engine stopped, kicked out of gear, loud beep sounded, and dashboard warning light came on. triangle with bolt inside. message said slow down and pull over. this had happened 3 times before while in cruise control, but i was not in cruise control this time. first time it happened, i consulted the manual. it said to turn off the engine and restart. i did, and warning light went off. same next 2 instances. i attempted this fix four times on this last occasion. car would restart, then engine would shut down in a few hundred feet. finally called tow truck. ford dealer found bad auxiliary water pump connected to hybrid system. in researching this, i found this is a common problem with ford escape hybrids. called ford customer service, but they refused to do anything about the repair, which cost $700. felt very unsafe with the way the engine just shut down. luckily, i was on a road with a shoulder. if i had been on a bridge, tunnel, or in traffic, i could have been killed, the engine shut down so quickly. ford needs to issue a recall on these water pumps, as their failure causes a dangerous engine failure. *tr | |||
| 06/16/2012 | 79000 | 2 | |
| While driving on the highway during a long trip (9 hours) a triangular warning light flashed on: stop safely now, and the car decelerated quickly as though the engine had abruptly stopped, barely allowing time to pull off road. fortunately, there was a shoulder at that spot on the highway. there is no way to safely stop a car this suddenly that is traveling on a highway! after reading the manual which directed driver to wait a bit and then restart car, the driver did so and everything seemed fine until it happened again, twice, on the highway again after driving for only 2 hours. please; just because there wasn't a crash, injury, fire, or death does not mean this is safe enough. *tr | |||
| 04/06/2012 | 57000 | ||
| While driving on interstate 75 in florida, the gas engine shutdown and a warning light/message appeared stop safely now. our vehicle immediately began to decelerate, running only on the electric motor, as we tried to cross two lanes of traffic safely. we pulled onto the shoulder, and turned the car off. we were able to restart the vehicle without getting the error message. we experienced this same sudden engine shutdown and feh warning 5-6 times over the course of our road trip from wisconsin to florida and back. upon return to wisconsin, we had the car checked out by our ford dealer, and they informed us it was a faulty motor electronics coolant pump (part #5m6z-8c419-a). ford has issued a technical service bulletin about this problem (tsb 08-24-5), but has not yet issued a recall. since the unexpected deceleration of a vehicle traveling at high speeds constitutes a serious safety issue (as many ford escape hybrid owners on edmunds.com can attest, http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0ff5b5), i am strongly urging you to compel ford to issue a recall on this part. | |||
| 03/18/2012 | 67000 | ||
| I have a 2008 ford escape hybrid (purchased in april 2007), with 67,000 miles on it. i was traveling at 65mph, starting to head into the sierras outside of sacramento, california. i had been driving for 2 hours, and had traveled 120 miles that morning when the car engine suddenly cut out, and the warning light stop safely now appeared on the dash. luckily, it was only 6am and there was only one other car near me on the road. i pulled over 3 lanes, breaks and steering working, but with no gas. i turned the car off for a minute, started it up without any problems or warning lights. i waited another minute or two, and headed out on the road. when i got back up to 65mph the engine cut out and the warning showed up again. this time i was already near the shoulder so i stopped again. i was about to get into a snowy uphill climb and decided that, not knowing what this car would do, that it was unsafe to continue. i drove slowly to the next exit, and got myself turned around. for the first hour i drove at under 60mph without any problems. i was able to achieve 65mph in the second hour without problem. i had the error codes assessed by a ford dealer and they said it was an mec pump failure (the pump that cools the electric battery). i was very lucky that this happened with so little traffic volume. there was no warning, and the sudden cut out of the engine was startling and unsafe. i feared for my life while heading home as the volume of cars picked up around me. | |||
| 03/13/2012 | 30 | ||
| While driving i noticed a lack of power and got the message stop safely now. as the manual stated i pulled over, waited a few minutes. the car started up again but the event kept happening all the way home. i brought the car to a dealer who made a repair costing 642 dollars. the car ran fine for a month but when on a major highway i had the same experience except it was more difficult to deal with the loss of power in busy traffic. i was in the passing lane to allow another car enter the highway from an on ramp when it happened and i was lucky to be able to cross three lanes of traffic to bring the car to rest. again, it happened all the way home causing me to finally drive in the breakdown lane with flashers on. i went online and learned that this is an ongoing problem with ford hybrids. my question is why no recall on such an expensive and dangerous problem? | |||
| 06/10/2011 | 68000 | ||
| Veh shows a caution sign (exclamation in triangle) with a warning (pull vehicle over safely and turn off engine). veh loses all acceleration and i must pull over immediately to avoid an accident. happens every time we drive on the freeway only, never on a side street or in stop and go. i pull vehicle over and turn off engine for approx 2 or 3 minutes, and it starts right up. some times it will happen multiple times within a 20 to 30 minute time period, sometimes only once in several hours of driving. dealer has no idea why and requires a tow immediately when it happens to determine cause. cannot tow when on the way to dr, out of town, or other. | |||
| 03/13/2012 | 30 | ||
| While driving i noticed a lack of power and got the message stop safely now. as the manual stated i pulled over, waited a few minutes. the car started up again but the event kept happening all the way home. i brought the car to a dealer who made a repair costing 642 dollars. the car ran fine for a month but when on a major highway i had the same experience except it was more difficult to deal with the loss of power in busy traffic. i was in the passing lane to allow another car enter the highway from an on ramp when it happened and i was lucky to be able to cross three lanes of traffic to bring the car to rest. again, it happened all the way home causing me to finally drive in the breakdown lane with flashers on. i went online and learned that this is an ongoing problem with ford hybrids. my question is why no recall on such an expensive and dangerous problem? | |||
| 06/10/2011 | 68000 | ||
| Veh shows a caution sign (exclamation in triangle) with a warning (pull vehicle over safely and turn off engine). veh loses all acceleration and i must pull over immediately to avoid an accident. happens every time we drive on the freeway only, never on a side street or in stop and go. i pull vehicle over and turn off engine for approx 2 or 3 minutes, and it starts right up. some times it will happen multiple times within a 20 to 30 minute time period, sometimes only once in several hours of driving. dealer has no idea why and requires a tow immediately when it happens to determine cause. cannot tow when on the way to dr, out of town, or other. | |||
| 03/17/2012 | 67000 | ||
| Stop safely now appears in dashboard while going 70 mph and you lose the accelerator - you cannot maintain / increase speed. the car basically dies and shuts off. this is incredibly dangerous, especially while driving on a highway or in traffic of any kind. this happened numerous times as we were driving to florida for spring break. once we stopped, we were able to restart the car and continue on until the next stop safely now appeared, sometimes in less than 3 minutes, sometimes after 3 hours. given that it was a sunday, we were unable to find a ford dealer with a hybrid technician on staff. the first ford dealer we took it to had it for 3 days and could find nothing wrong. the second dealer we went to replaced the throttle body and water pump. this breakdown is unacceptable and dangerous. no car should simply stop like that. this design / flaw should be recalled and fixed before someone is killed on the expressway. | |||
| 12/29/2011 | 39453 | ||
| I was traveling on the expressway in the left hand lane doing about 70 mph when the engine shutdown and a stop now safely message appeared on dashboard. i was able to pull over turned off the vehicle was able to restart and continue to my destination. this again happened on the way home the same day there was no problem found at the times i pulled over and both times was able to continue. i had no ability to accelerate and fortunetly was able to pull over, this was a scary. | |||
| 10/12/2011 | 85000 | ||
| Going from missouri to arkansas my car simply stopped running no indicator lighs were on at the time and a triangle came on stating i could pull over safely now and stop. i turned off the engine after trying to make the electric battery engine work. nothing happened. people helped me push my car off the road and then a man suggested i try to start it again. it started right up and ran for another 20-30 miles and then proceeded to do this about every 5-10 miles for hours. the temp was raining and about 60 degrees. again on the way home in dry weather and at night it did the same thing for 136 miles. this was at night and i tried to keep it at 60 mph. finaly dropping it to 50 and finally made it home. i'm taking it to my mechanic but when i called ford where i bought the car they said they never heard of this problem. i find this to be an untruth and ford ( which my family has sworn by for many years) refuses to acknowledge this problem. | |||
| 10/13/2011 | 86250 | ||
| Driving down a congested interstate the vehicle stopped working at the same time stop immediately was scrolling across the instrument cluster. there is not sufficent time to make adjustments in traffic. it is a very dangerous with liitle room for error in city traffic as i feel lucky to be alive after the vehicle stopped working a total of six times before making it home. | |||
| 10/12/2011 | 85000 | ||
| Going from missouri to arkansas my car simply stopped running no indicator lighs were on at the time and a triangle came on stating i could pull over safely now and stop. i turned off the engine after trying to make the electric battery engine work. nothing happened. people helped me push my car off the road and then a man suggested i try to start it again. it started right up and ran for another 20-30 miles and then proceeded to do this about every 5-10 miles for hours. the temp was raining and about 60 degrees. again on the way home in dry weather and at night it did the same thing for 136 miles. this was at night and i tried to keep it at 60 mph. finaly dropping it to 50 and finally made it home. i'm taking it to my mechanic but when i called ford where i bought the car they said they never heard of this problem. i find this to be an untruth and ford ( which my family has sworn by for many years) refuses to acknowledge this problem. | |||
| 10/13/2011 | 86250 | ||
| Driving down a congested interstate the vehicle stopped working at the same time stop immediately was scrolling across the instrument cluster. there is not sufficent time to make adjustments in traffic. it is a very dangerous with liitle room for error in city traffic as i feel lucky to be alive after the vehicle stopped working a total of six times before making it home. | |||
| 07/30/2011 | 53100 | ||
| While driving at highway speeds for about 20 minutes, the gasoline engine died and a warning light came on saying to pull off the road safely. there was no other warning light (no high temperature warning). i drove slowly on electrical engine power until there was a safe place to pull off the road. after a few minutes parked there with the car turned off, i tried to start the car again. it started and i was able to drive home. i took the car to a dealer and he could see no reports in the computer and no evident cause for the engine to fail. he said to watch the temperature gauge. however, there is not a constant temperature gauge - it only comes up on the screen when there is a problem (and it did not come up when the engine failed). a week later, again on a longer drive (more than 20 minutes) at highway speeds, the car stalled and i was forced to pull over. the danger of pulling over on a multilane freeway is very scary. over the next 30 minutes, i re-started the car and pulled back into traffic, only to have the gas engine die 5 more times. eventually i was able to get home and take the escape in to a ford dealership. the dealership immediately diagnosed it as a failure of the coolant pump and replaced it for $500. the mileage of my car was about 53,000 miles. | |||
| 08/13/2011 | 53000 | ||
| My 2008 ford escape hybrid (53,000 miles) is dangerous to drive. while driving 70 mph on i-5 i hear a popping sound and suddenly all ability to accelerate is lost. a red exclamation point within a triangle appears on the control panel and a sincerely bizarre message displays itself: please pull over safely. this is quite the challenge with 18 wheelers behind me, to the side of me, and other cars all around. with quick reflexes, i am able to get over two lanes and slowly (i think only the electric engine is working, no gas) drive off the next exit. sitting in the car, i am in shock. what just happened? will it happen again? because we are on our way home from oregon to the east bay area in ca, we attempt to get back on the freeway and make our way south. within 40 minutes the same failure happens again, only this time there isn't an exit ramp. we are on the side of an busy two-lane southern traveling freeway. once safely to the side, the car restarts and appears to be functioning properly. now i am afraid to drive it, but want to get home. i decide to go a little under the speed limit (a hazard) and stay in the left lane. after the car fails and tells me to pull over safely now for the 5th time, i decide i can't take it anymore. we call ford's roadside assistance number and wait two hours (yes! two hours!) for a tow truck, only to be called back by an automated dispatch that gives us the name of a different towing service that estimates its arrival time in 2 hours (the first company apparently had to go to a police emergency tow, but i believe they didn't agree on a decent wage for the service). not wanting to wait 2 more hours, i attempt to drive again. within 10 minutes, the car fails and we are lucky enough to glide to an off ramp and into a gas station parking lot. thank goodness we didn't get any further; the next stretch of freeway had no shoulder at all and the next part was a long bridge. car is now at dealer waiting for mon appt. | |||
| 07/03/2011 | 80000 | ||
| I was driving my 2008 ford escape hybrid on the high way and it stalled 3 times at high speeds. stop safely now came on dash. i did tons of research and this is a huge problem with the motor over heating. ford had backorders up to nearly 900 coolant pumps last year. this is very scary because you just lose power in the middle of he highway. toyota just recalled theirs, why has ford not been on this. it is all over the internet. i am bringing my car in to the dealership with printed research and a letter of concern. i am blown away that so many people have had this issue with the stalling at high speeds and ford has done nothing. this is very concerning. | |||
| 03/31/2011 | 63000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. while driving approximately 55-70 mph, the engine stalled and there was a beeping chime heard in the vehicle followed by a message displayed on the instrument panel instructing the contact to stop and pull over safely. the vehicle was coasted to the side of the road and the engine was restarted. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the electronic cooling pump was being replaced. the failure mileage was 63,000. the vin was unavailable. | |||
| 03/22/2008 | 52961 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. the contact stated the auxiliary cooling pump failed. the cooling pump is electric and when it failed it caused the gasoline engine to shut down. the electric motor still runs when this happens, but the gasoline engine stalled. when the failure occurred, there was a message on the dashboard that stated pull over safely. the contact was able to get the vehicle home, but they could only drive 7-8 miles before they would have to pull over again and let it sit. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and had a diagnostic test done and was told that the cooling pump had failed. the contact had the vehicle repaired, but it was not under warranty. the failure mileage 52,961 and current mileage was 53,045. rl | |||
| 03/31/2011 | 63000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. while driving approximately 55-70 mph, the engine stalled and there was a beeping chime heard in the vehicle followed by a message displayed on the instrument panel instructing the contact to stop and pull over safely. the vehicle was coasted to the side of the road and the engine was restarted. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the electronic cooling pump was being replaced. the failure mileage was 63,000. the vin was unavailable. | |||
| 03/22/2008 | 52961 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. the contact stated the auxiliary cooling pump failed. the cooling pump is electric and when it failed it caused the gasoline engine to shut down. the electric motor still runs when this happens, but the gasoline engine stalled. when the failure occurred, there was a message on the dashboard that stated pull over safely. the contact was able to get the vehicle home, but they could only drive 7-8 miles before they would have to pull over again and let it sit. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and had a diagnostic test done and was told that the cooling pump had failed. the contact had the vehicle repaired, but it was not under warranty. the failure mileage 52,961 and current mileage was 53,045. rl | |||
| 03/31/2011 | 63000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. while driving approximately between 55-70 mph, the engine stalled; the contact heard a beeping noise inside of the vehicle; followed by a message displayed on the instrument panel indicating to stop pull over safely now. the vehicle was coasted to the side of the road. the engine restarted, and the contact was able to resume driving. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the electronic cooling pump was being replaced. the failure mileage was 63,000. the vin was unavailable. there was a complaint filed on the same model year vehicle with a different vin under odi number 10393922. js | |||
| 03/22/2008 | 52961 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. the contact stated the auxiliary cooling pump failed. the cooling pump is electric and when it failed it caused the gasoline engine to shut down. the electric motor still runs when this happens, but the gasoline engine stalled. when the failure occurred, there was a message on the dashboard that stated pull over safely. the contact was able to get the vehicle home, but they could only drive 7-8 miles before they would have to pull over again and let it sit. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and had a diagnostic test done and was told that the cooling pump had failed. the contact had the vehicle repaired, but it was not under warranty. the failure mileage 52,961 and current mileage was 53,045. rl | |||
| 01/31/2011 | 28700 | ||
| Driving off road up a steep incline (40-45 degrees), the vehicle came to a halt. there wasn't any power going to the tires even though i had the accelerator pedal to the floor. the engine rpm would only rev up to about 1200 rpm. it felt as if there was a disconnect between the transmission and the engine as there was no power being delivered to the tires. the tires did not loose traction or spin either. what was especially unsafe about this is that it was extremely hazardous backing down the steep hill i had tried to ascend. i was trying to back down slowly by using the brake, but many times the brakes would lock up causing the vehicle to shift and slide sometimes sideways which could have caused the vehicle to roll. i tried to again to no avail. this vehicle is used by the us forest service in which many times the vehicle is required to go of road on forest service roads. there is a section in the owner's manual about off road driving, but it makes no mention that the vehicle should not be driven up steep inclines. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||
| 07/03/2011 | 80000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. the contact stated that while driving at highway speeds the vehicle would suddenly stall. he would notice that the a message would appear that reads, stop safely now. the vehicle was able to be restarted without any porblem. the vehicle was inspected by a dealer and they advised him that the water pump had failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired for the water pump. the failure mileage was approximately 80,000. tb | |||
| 07/03/2011 | 80000 | ||
| I was driving my 2008 ford escape hybrid on the high way and it stalled 3 times at high speeds. stop safely now came on dash. i did tons of research and this is a huge problem with the motor over heating. ford had backorders up to nearly 900 coolant pumps last year. this is very scary because you just lose power in the middle of he highway. toyota just recalled theirs, why has ford not been on this. it is all over the internet. i am bringing my car in to the dealership with printed research and a letter of concern. i am blown away that so many people have had this issue with the stalling at high speeds and ford has done nothing. this is very concerning. | |||
| 07/17/2010 | 73000 | ||
| Our 2008 ford escape (hybrid) shuts down without warning. the problem has been diagnosed as a failed coolant pump for the electrical system. when we tried to have it repaired, we learned that there were 891 repalcment pumps on back order - these are not orders for new manufacturing, but for replacing failed pumps. these are just the ones on back order and do not include ons already replaced, or those owners that have not taken their escape for diagnostics. our escape has shut down several dozen times and it has almost always been at highway speeds on an interstate. there is no warning, the vehicle shuts down and gives us a message to plese stop safely. the vehicle will re-start once it has been shut off, but that means we have to coast to the shoulder while avoiding other vehicles. we then have to merge back into interstate traffic. ford is aware of the issue, but have told us they have nothing to do with recalling the part as that is up to the federal government! | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 07/25/2011 | 55415 | ||
| I was driving my 2008 ford escape hybrid around 70 mph on a toll road when there was a sudden beep and a stop safely now message came up on the screen. the power to the engine cut out and i had to coast to a shoulder several hundred yards ahead of me. the car reduce it's speed; i was able to break but i was unable to accelerate. it sounded like the engine had completely shut off. i was able to re-start the car after being towed off the freeway and was able to keep driving the car as long as i kept me speed under ~60mph. this was a horrible experience and after seeing how well documented the problem is i can't wait to trade in for a different brand. this will be my last ford. | |||
| 07/03/2011 | 80000 | ||
| I was driving my 2008 ford escape hybrid on the high way and it stalled 3 times at high speeds. stop safely now came on dash. i did tons of research and this is a huge problem with the motor over heating. ford had backorders up to nearly 900 coolant pumps last year. this is very scary because you just lose power in the middle of he highway. toyota just recalled theirs, why has ford not been on this. it is all over the internet. i am bringing my car in to the dealership with printed research and a letter of concern. i am blown away that so many people have had this issue with the stalling at high speeds and ford has done nothing. this is very concerning. | |||
| 06/28/2011 | 23000 | ||
| I own a 2008 escape hybrid. on numerous occasions my escape | |||
| 03/05/2011 | 60000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. the contact stated the electric water pump was not functioning and causing the vehicle to stall when driving at high speeds above 70 mph. the contact was able to restart the vehicle after several moments and the vehicle was taken to the dealer who will replaced the electric water pump. there were no recalls for the failure. the manufacturer was contacted who took a report but provided no further assistance. the failure mileage was 60,000. | |||
| 03/05/2011 | 60000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. the contact stated the electric water pump was not functioning and this causes the vehicle to stall. this happens when you are driving high speed such as 70 mph. the vehicle had to pull to the side of the road wait a few minutes until it cools down before it can be restarted. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who will replace the electric water pump at a cost to her. there are no recalls or warranty for this failure. the manufacturer was contacted who took a claim report and informed her to contact nhtsa to file a report. the failure mileage was 60,000...mw | |||
| 10/10/2010 | 53200 | ||
| While driving at highway speeds (~75 mph) my combustion engine shut off and a red warning light was displayed on the dash with a message of please pull over safely. my vehicle has approx 53000 miles on it and is 3.5 years old. luckily i was in the right lane and not in any danger of causing an accident. this is truly a major safety issue. had i been passing another vehicle or had someone tailgating me, it could easily have been a major or even fatal accident. i called ford and they say they have no record of this even though i've seen another oid on this issue that stated they were # 891 in line for a replacement part. please make ford recall any vehicle that have this part installed and replace it with a more reliable part. | |||
| 08/13/2010 | 70000 | ||
| I have a 2008 ford escape hybrid. on 3 serperate occasions, my combustable engine has shut off. the display on my dash then tells me to pull over safely. i still do have a small amount of power from the electric engine. after pulling over, i can turn off the car, wait a couple of minutes and restart the engine. it will not last. after milking the gas, trying not to exceed 2,500 rpms, my car might last 1/2 to 4 miles before it does it again. luckily, during the times that this has happened to me, i have been on an interstate that had 3 or less lanes. however, i might not have been as lucky if i was on the 8 lane connector of i 75/85 in atlanta. i called the dealership about my problem and spoke to the assistant service manager at gene evans ford in union city. after describing my problem, he quickly knew what the problem was and mentioned that he has had quiet a few people with this problem. he said that it is a problem with the vehicle's coolant pump. i did some research saw several postings of people that have had the same problem. it really concerns me that there have been multiple cases of this occuring and i have not heard anything from my dealer or ford that this is going on, especially after the toyota scandal. | |||
| 04/19/2010 | 45900 | ||
| Stop safely now warning went off and the engine lost power. my wife was forced to pull over to the side of the freeway. after turning the engine off, the car did restart and she was able to drive home safely. took it to the dealer for trouble shooting, but so far it has been almost 6 hours and they still haven't figured out what is wrong. the owners manual claims this is a warning prior to failure of the hybrid system in her ford escape hybrid. | |||